Kuwait pressing toward preinvasion oil production capacity

Oil field reconstruction is shifting focus in Kuwait as the country races toward prewar production capacity of 2 million b/d. Oil flow last month reached 1.7 million b/d, thanks largely to a massive workover program that has accomplished about as much as it can. By midyear, most of the 19 rigs in Kuwait will be drilling rather than working over wells vandalized by retreating Iraqi troops in February 1991. Seventeen gathering centers are at work, with capacities totaling 2.4 million b/d, according to state-owned Kuwait Oil Co. (KOC). This article describes current work, the production infrastructure, facilities strategy, oil recovery, well repairs, a horizontal pilot project, the drilling program, the constant reminders of war, and heightened tensions.